Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/005—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission adapting radio receivers, transmitters andtransceivers for operation on two or more bands, i.e. frequency ranges
  • H04B1/0053—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission adapting radio receivers, transmitters andtransceivers for operation on two or more bands, i.e. frequency ranges with common antenna for more than one band
  • H04B1/006—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission adapting radio receivers, transmitters andtransceivers for operation on two or more bands, i.e. frequency ranges with common antenna for more than one band using switches for selecting the desired band
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
  • H04B1/40—Circuits
  • H04B1/44—Transmit/receive switching
  • H04B1/48—Transmit/receive switching in circuits for connecting transmitter and receiver to a common transmission path, e.g. by energy of transmitter

Definitions

• the invention relates to an electrical switching module with a switch which has a transmitter and a receiver input and an output and which optionally connects one of the inputs to the output in an electrically conductive manner, and to passive components which form a low-pass filter which connects with one Transmitter input of the switch is electrically connected.
• Switch modules of the type mentioned at the outset are known in which the switch is composed of PIN diodes and is therefore current-controlled. Low-pass filters are used, which are integrated in an LTCC multilayer ceramic with 10 to 15 ceramic layers. These switching modules are used as multiband front-end modules for mobile telephones and each have a receiver and a transmitter input for at least two different frequency bands.
• Such known switching modules perform the following different functions:
• Function 1 Linking the frequency bands used to an antenna
• Function 4 Filtering the signals coming from a power amplifier
• Function 5 Filtering the signals received via the antenna
• Functions 1 and 2 are fulfilled by a diplexer, which is composed of passive components and integrated in the passive module.
• Function 3 is fulfilled by switches implemented using PIN diodes.
• the signals coming from the amplifiers are filtered by low-pass or band-pass filters, while 5 monolithic microwave ceramics, LC filters, SAW (surface acoustic wave) or / and BAW (bulk acoustic wave) band-pass filters are used for the function.
• the known switching modules have the disadvantage that the diode switches used require a switching current of up to 10 mA for their function, which mainly has a negative effect on the maximum speech duration of the mobile telephone due to the battery power required for this.
• the known switching module has the disadvantage of a high insertion loss, which results primarily from the large number of passive components required for the diplexer, such as
• the known switching module has the disadvantage that, due to the different optional functions, on the one hand between sending and receiving and on the other hand between the frequency bands, a large number of passive components are integrated in the passive module, which leads to a high loss expenditure and a limited miniaturization of the known switching module leadsv
• the use of diodes entails the need for further passive components, for example series resistors or capacitors.
• the known switching modules have the disadvantage that, due to the large number of passive components, the multilayer ceramic passive module has a high level of complexity with a correspondingly increased development time and little flexibility in adapting to changed requirements.
• the transformation lines required for the operation of the PIN diode further increase the complexity of the passive module and its size.
• the known switching modules also have the disadvantage that the integration of a multiplicity of different frequency bands or a corresponding switchover function cannot be implemented for reasons of space due to the fact that two diodes are required per switchover function.
• the aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a switching module which manages with a very low switching current and which takes up little space.
• the invention specifies an electrical switching module which has a voltage-controlled switch which aisle and includes a receiver input and an output.
• the switch optionally connects one of the inputs to the output in an electrically conductive manner.
• the electrical switching module according to the invention has passive components which form a low-pass filter which is connected in an electrically conductive manner to a transmitter input of the switch.
• the passive components are part of a passive module that is designed as a multilayer ceramic.
• the passive module has a base body made of dielectric layers and electrically conductive layers lying one above the other.
• the switch of the switching module is arranged on the top or on the bottom of the base body.
• the invention relates to a switching module arrangement with the switching module according to the invention, each transmitter input being connected to a transmitter amplifier via a low-pass filter and each receiver input being electrically conductively connected to a receiver amplifier via a bandpass filter. Furthermore, the output of the switching module is connected to an antenna.
• a switching module arrangement can be used, for example, in mobile telephones, which is why the advantageous use of the switching module according to the invention and the switching module arrangement according to the invention as a front-end module in a mobile radio device is a further subject of the invention.
• the switch module according to the invention has the advantage that the switch is a voltage-controlled switch which is switched not with the aid of a current but with the aid of an electrical voltage and thus has an extremely low power consumption. This means that diodes with a high current consumption can be dispensed with. Furthermore, the additional passive components required for the operation of diodes, such as capacitors or series resistors, can be dispensed with.
• the switching module according to the invention thus has the advantage of low power consumption and the advantage of low complexity. The advantages mentioned apply both to the switching module and to the arrangement of the switching module or the use of the switching module.
• the switch of the switching module has a switching current of less than 10 ⁇ A.
• a switching module is thus realized which has a very low power consumption.
• the switch of the switching module has a very low insertion loss ⁇ 1 dB. This improves the transmission or reception performance of a mobile radio device that uses the switching module according to the invention.
• a switching module which comprises a bandpass filter which is arranged on the top or bottom of the base body.
• the bandpass filter can also be arranged in a suitable recess in the base body. Furthermore, that is
• Bandpass filter electrically connected to a receiver input.
• LC, SAW, BAW or microwave filters can be used particularly advantageously as bandpass filters.
• the switching module according to the invention offers the possibility of combining the band-pass filters necessary for receiving radio signals with the voltage-controlled ones
• the switching module according to the invention can in particular be designed as a multi-band front-end module in that the switch has a number K> 1 transmitter inputs and a number L> 1 receiver inputs.
• the switch optionally connects one of the inputs to its output in an electrically conductive manner.
• the passive components of the electrical switching module form a number K of low-pass filters, each of which is electrically conductively connected to a transmitter input.
• Such a switching module has the advantage that in addition to the switching function between sending and receiving, the switch also enables switching between different frequency bands.
• a large number of different frequencies can be processed with the switching module according to the invention.
• each low-pass filter of the switching module according to the invention is suitable for a different mobile radio standard, selected from GSM, PCN, PCS or another mobile radio standard.
• the switching module according to the invention can therefore switch between different transmitter inputs, which can be assigned to different mobile radio frequencies. This enables a multiband module to be implemented.
• Such a switching module also has the advantage that a diplexer, which is required for choosing between different frequency bands according to the prior art described at the outset, can be dispensed with. This results in the advantage that fewer passive components are integrated into the passive module, which reduces the development effort or increases the flexibility in adapting the switching module to changing requirements.
• a reduced number of passive components in the passive module also has the advantage of a reduced overall height and thus a reduced space requirement for the switching module.
• Hl 0 rt F- TJ o F- ⁇ izz ⁇ ! F- P. Hl LQ a F "et Hi F- H ⁇ Hj rr 3 H a ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ! F- ⁇ P. P rt ap. ⁇ ⁇ t- 1 t P o HJ a rr rt Hj tr 3
• a gallium arsenide switch can be used as the voltage controlled switch. Such switches require a control input for each input and output. Accordingly, each control input of the switch must be connected to a control line. The control inputs are set by the control lines so that exactly one control input is set to "high” and the other control inputs are set to "low”. This sets a precisely defined switch position for the switch.
• a decoder which converts the logic signals present at its inputs into control signals suitable for controlling the voltage-controlled switch.
• the decoder is advantageously arranged on the top or bottom of the base body. The control outputs of the decoder are over
• Control lines connected to control inputs of the switch The number of control inputs of the decoder is reduced compared to the number of control inputs of the switch, whereby the number of control lines to be brought in from outside is advantageously reduced.
• the signals present at the inputs of the decoder correspond to a binary number, it also being possible for several inputs to have the switching state "high". These input signals are converted by the decoder so that only exactly one control line is provided with the "high" signal at the decoder output.
• the switching module comprises an amplifier, the passive components of which are integrated in the passive module and the active components of which are arranged on the top or bottom of the base body.
• the LNA is required, for example, if bandpass filters are integrated in the passive module. In this case the LNA is switched after the bandpass filter.
• the amplifiers mentioned provide additional functionalities of the switching module, which is why it is advantageous to integrate them into the switching module.
• the low-pass filter that is integrated in the passive module is a higher-order filter.
• a filter can be obtained, for example, by expanding a ⁇ filter which consists of two capacitors which are connected to one another by an inductor.
• the ⁇ filter can be expanded by bridging the inductance with an additional capacitor. This provides additional poles for the filter, which makes the filter particularly suitable for damping higher harmonics of a fundamental frequency fg. Since exactly such higher harmonics of a fundamental frequency fg arise when a gallium arsenide switch is operated at low voltages, it is advantageous to use a higher-order low-pass filter in the switching module according to the invention in order to suppress these disturbing higher harmonics.
• Figure 1 shows an example of a switching module according to the invention in a switching module arrangement according to the invention as a schematic block diagram.
• FIG. 2 shows an example of an electrical switching module according to the invention in a schematic cross section.
• FIG. 3 shows an example of a switching module according to the invention using a decoder as a schematic block diagram.
• the dielectric layers 8 are ceramic layers which, for example, have a dielectric function for a capacitor.
• a dielectric function for a capacitor For example, an Al2O 3 ceramic with glass components can be used as the ceramic.
• Such a ceramic typically has an effective ⁇ of 7.8 with low losses.
• the switching module can also have resistance layers which are produced by applying a resistance paste to an electrically conductive layer 9.
• the base body 7 also includes plated-through holes 17, which connect the electrically conductive layers 9 of different levels to one another in an electrically conductive manner.
• the electrically conductive layers 9 can be designed, for example, as copper layers.
• External contacts 16 are arranged on the underside of the base body 7, with the aid of which the switching module can be soldered and contacted on a circuit board. External contacts 16 are also located on the upper side of the base body 7, so that the voltage-controlled switch 1 and possibly also other passive filter components can be fastened and contacted there.
• the switch 1 can be attached, for example, by gluing and additional wire bonding and electrically contacted.
• a GaAs multiple switch is preferably used, as it is called PHEMT GaAs IC High
• Power SP5T Switch 0.1-2 GHz is supplied by Alpha Industries, Inc. Such a switch has an insertion loss of 0.8 dB in the frequency range between 0.1 and 0.5 GHz. It is a gallium arsenide-based integrated circuit with FET, the
• FIG. 3 shows a voltage-controlled switch 1 with an output 4, to which an antenna 15 is connected.
• Switch 1 has transmitter inputs TX-j_, TX2 and receiver inputs RX ⁇ _, RX2 and RX3.
• Switch 1 is controlled via control inputs S -] _, S2, S 3 , S4, S5.
• the control takes place in such a way that exactly one of the control inputs S ⁇ _, S2, S3, S4 and S5 is set to "High", while the other control inputs are set to "Low”.
• the number of inputs required can be reduced by the decoder 18 connected to the switch 1.
• the decoder 18 can be, for example, a 1 out of 5 decoder.
• control inputs E ⁇ _, E2 and E 3 and control outputs A ⁇ _, A2, A 3 , A4 and A5.
• the control outputs A-j_, A2, A 3 , and A5 are connected by control lines 19 to the control inputs S ⁇ _, S2, S3, S4, S5 of the switch 1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Transceivers (AREA)
• Electronic Switches (AREA)
• Push-Button Switches (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (2)

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• 2001
  • 2001-01-18 DE DE10102201A patent/DE10102201C2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2002
  • 2002-01-14 TW TW091100365A patent/TW561696B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-01-17 JP JP2002558612A patent/JP2004517583A/ja active Pending
  • 2002-01-17 CN CNB028038924A patent/CN100525127C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-17 US US10/466,338 patent/US8014731B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2002-01-17 WO PCT/DE2002/000129 patent/WO2002058239A2/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2002-01-17 EP EP06010317A patent/EP1703642A3/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2002-01-17 DE DE50207433T patent/DE50207433D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-01-17 AT AT02701195T patent/ATE332590T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-01-17 EP EP02701195A patent/EP1352482B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime

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